Boots store closures?

Analysts in the city are predicting that, if the Alliance Boots deputy chairman Stefano Pessina wins control of the retail and pharmacy giant, up to 150 high street stores could be closed.

Stefano Pessina, who is leading the takeover plan is expected to take a tougher stance in modernising Boots the Chemist if he wrests control. Shareholders are concerned about the tension between Pessina's role as a board director and his personal ambition.

Pessina is said to be keen to expand aggressively overseas, a strategy he fears risk-averse institutional shareholders will not back.

The future of Boots's sprawling Nottingham headquarters is expected to be reviewed but analysts also believe Pessina would be keen to jettison Boots the Chemist's 150 larger high street stores and concentrate on community pharmacies.

The shops, many of them two-storey, have been a problem for successive managements as they have tried to generate additional sales from a variety of schemes including walk-in dentistry to laser hair removal.

For the moment Stafano Pessina is keeping his intentions close to his chest.